Rose Garden

The Rose Garden is a worthwhile day trip from the capital. Not a botanical garden as the name suggests (although there are roses in a well-maintained and beautiful garden), it's a cultural center that provides a one-stop shop for learning and ...

This is an excellent family friendly tour but has an early start! After breakfast, we 2 adults 1 baby were greeted at our hotel lobby by Ms Dana who is by the way a very warm, friendly and helpful tour guide. She speaks excellent English and bonded immediately with our little baby. We were escorted to a mini van and we were the only guests on this tour so it was like a private VIP tour. Our driver was very pleasant and quiet and followed Ms Dana's instructions in Thai. After leaving the hotel, we drove for an hour until we reached the Orchid Farm. It is more of a conservatory rather than a farm. There are quite a few shops and a food court. We spent half an hour here and had our photos taken and made on orchid plates. We then headed to the Elephant Farm. We were asked if we wanted to go on the Elephant Ride to the Jungle and back but as the prices were quite steep, we decided not to go ahead. We returned to the van and drove on. We were asked if we wanted to stop at the Handicraft market but decided not to as it was getting rather hot. We then drove on until we reached the Rose Garden. It takes about 2.5 hours to drive there from our hotel on the Chao Phraya River. The Rose Garden itself was a little bit of a disappointment as there were no roses in sight. However, the buffet lunch at the restaurant was scrumptious and Ms Dana had reserved a table overlooking the river. The lunch options are quite good however not many vegetarian options. We then went to the spa next door for a 30 minutes massage as we had some time to kill before the elephant show and cultural show. The massages were excellent and very relaxing. Ms Dana then came to meet us and escort us to the elephant show. Our little one loved the elephant show and was so excited. We then moved onto the cultural show in the theatre and again, our little one was delighted. The cultural show was authentic and traditional. After the shows, we were driven back to our hotel. It was a very safe and comfy trip. 5s

This tour was about shopping, the culture show was a watered down representation of what it traditionally is and my guide was very rude. He pointed out street food and said I don't try because I'm "not used to" and kept referring to "my people" aka white people. Ok. I'll be at Mcdonalds where I belong.

Floating market is overrated and tourist trap, wished my tour guide told me not to buy stuff from this over priced place, I do not find haggling for the price to be entertaining. Enjoyed the rose garden tour and lunch

If you are going to advertise it as a floating market tour, then we shouldn't be charred extra to do the floating market when we get there. I paid 70 bucks for a tour guide who lied about the price of the floating market. There should be water provided on the bus since it's so hot.

Even though the heavens opened whilst on tour, we still enjoyed the shopping experience. Could have done without stopping on way at some sort of market selling coconut based items and showing process of using the coconuts. We would rather of spent the time to shop longer at floating market, instead it was a bit rushed
We then went to Sampran Riverside where we had a good lunch in a lovely setting, the rain had by then eased. Then on same site went over to another building where we sat and watched various farm animals, Elephants and dancers performing the life of Thai villagers. Finally went out to see a family of Elephants including a baby elephant called One Pin. Thankfully the rain had completely stopped and we're able to fully appreciate the show.... money well spent.

My main observation for this tour was that the guide used every opportunity to make further money from us.
Rather disappointing how this does not include the gondola ride around the floating market which surprise surprise, comes as extra like so may other things offered by this trip.

The tour was well organized. The Viator guide was good. Besides my wife and daughter, only 2 other ladies from England were in the comfy van. If you're going to the Floating Market, recommend also doing the Roase Garden.. Both places are very touristy. The Floating markets today only exist as tourist attractions. Locals don't go unless they are selling something, not buying. It's worthe trip to get a glimpse of what life among the canals might have been like. Seems like Thailand is now a place for tourists. Hard to get a feel for local culture on these tours, so be prepared with the right mindset. We did visit the Royal Palace on our own. We took the boat ferry from the Sky Train to the Pa;ace. The Sky Train is a good way to beat traffic and the boat taxi gives you a chance to be on the river. The complimentary English language tour inside the Palace was well done. Avoid the people outside who tell you that the Palace is closed or there is a big event going on and want to take you somewhere else.

Despite being put on a half day tour when we booked a full day, the trip was a great insight into the market and the culture there. The tour guide was amazing and very informative and knowledgeable, we had a great day and despite the early start its very worth while!

Very interesting visit to a unique place. Even though the floating market has been considerably commercialized to cater to tourists, one can get a good appreciation of how it would have been before a few decades. The cultural show in the Rose Garden center is of a high standard that matches the production standards of a Las Vegas show. Overall, a highly enjoyable tour.

A fun tour. The best parts were the canal boat ride through a tropical area both very quiet and so peaceful and then viewing the floating market. Also, a top site was the chedi at Nakhom Pathom and also the shows at the Rose Garden Cultural Center were interesting. We had a great buffet lunch at the Rose Garden.

The guide was awesome! Friendly, funny and enthusiastic. The tour is well organized, and the floating market is a fun place to visit. One of the problems with the tour was the stops at shops that were not listed at the tour itinerary. This added up more than an hour of tour that I didn´t want. Another thing that bothered me was the elephant ride: at first I was surprised with our stop at that place and jumped into the opportunity of close contact with that magnificent animal, but afterwards I kind of felt bad for those creatures, they didn´t look like they were well cared for, and I felt like I´ve been pushed into a trap, and spent 600 baht with something that I ended up regretting. During the ride the mahout asked us to buy some necklaces and bracelets, and also kept pushing us into tipping him.